High Heels Details

HIgh melodrama

After two wild and zany comedies (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and Tie Me Up/Tie Me Down), Almodovar made this tender melodrama about a self-obsessed actress (Marisa Parades) making amends with her estranged daughter (Victoria Abril, who was Almodovar's muse at the time) following the murder of a man they had both had a relationship with.

I wonder if his controversial sex scenes from Tie Me Up... and the savaging he suffered from critics and feminists led Almodovar to tone things down a bit and make one of his first great women's film? It certainly lacked the humour of previous efforts so there are a few scenes that drag, while the emotional scenes between the women who dominate the film are sometimes sparky, sometimes a bit schmaltzy.

All of Almodovar's trademarks are here...a duality between characters (for instance, both the mother and daughter have almost identical names to show how much alike they are), Dickensian coincidences, riotous colours, a cameo by his brother, camp interior designs, etc .He usually also has a link between his films and in this case Victoria Abril went on in his next movie (Kika) to play a TV journalist again.

If you liked Imitation of Life, Mildred Pierce or Autumn Sonata then you'll have an idea of what to expect: a Sunday afternoon matinee which will require lots of tissues by the end.